 I visited Changchun for a weekend in Spring 2013 by train, with the purpose of seeing the Puppet Emperor Puyi's offices and palace. The first stop on the tour of the palace is the horse track: the entire facility was formerly the Jilin provincial department of transportation.
Puyi used this unassuming former government building as his HQ. On one side of the building were offices for Puyi and his advisors, and on the other side offices for the Japanese officers in charge of overseeing him and pulling the strings. All kept up to the last detail.
The Japanese built a 1930's era modern palace for Puyi. Though not large, the interiors are sumptuous. I think the movie the Last Emperor must have been filmed on site because most of it looks so familiar. But Puyi rarely used the building since he assumed it was bugged. [Next]
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